Your ESL skills

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Like any other endeavor, the art of teaching and a thorough knowledge of the science behind it take time and dedication to develop. And if you talk to anyone (who is being honest with themselves) who has achieved a great level of mastery in any field, they will tell you that you are always improving, learning more and re-learning things you thought you knew in light of new data and experience.

As long as you, as a teacher are actively taking steps to develop, you’re fine.

You do what you can, really.

Like Siddhartha said, you just try to keep learning yourself, rethink some things, admit you were wrong in the past, if that be the case, and keep an open mind toward new ideas or ideas that go against your own.

I think everyone in life is pretty much "winging it." Some are just better at it than others. You do what you can and hope nobody gets a pencil in the eye 😛 .

what we get out of ESL isn't always the thing that we went into it for

That’s very true.

I love how many (perhaps most?) longtime ESL teachers went into the field expecting to do it for only a year or two, but then found it so gratifying that they decided to make a career out of it.

I've almost been in the biz 5 years, and I still feel like I know hardly anything...

That's a shame that you feel that way. I wonder what kind of classes you have had during that time? If you teach a variety of students from many different countries and teach a variety of courses (Business English, IELTS, Kids) and keep up to date with the latest tech and online tools, then there is much to learn, young padawan.

Or maybe you're being too modest.

Emile,

I should have been more specific, I probably more know than the average ESL teacher. Many ESL teachers on this forum own ESL websites and a few of the websites are pretty extensive. To build an ESL website, you usually need to know more than the average Joe. I'm sure you learned a lot from building your RoadToGrammar website.

However, what I was trying to say is that I don't FEEL like I know a lot. It probably comes from being a perfectionist and something is never good enough unless its perfect.

However, what I was trying to say is that I don't FEEL like I know a lot. It probably comes from being a perfectionist and something is never good enough unless its perfect.

OK, got it.

In my case, I definitely feel like I've learned a lot and know a lot. I did my first teaching gig in Romania before I got my Tefl cert, and I cringe when I think about those classes! But at the time, I thought I was doing great!

But I know what you mean, I feel there is still stuff out there for me to learn.